peachchaos

Yep, another great show here. Incredible timing on this topic as I just read this list last week and watched everything that made tape.

Were you around when Funk-Lewin or the end of Funk-Race dropped?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqXG2on9pBE

That clip of Dave talking about the AJPW Google Drive folder is hilarious. But also, now it appears most of the collection is gone.

This probably shouldn't make anyone's list but it's def some entertaining Terry Funk shtick:

1. Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard (Steel Cage I Quit Match) (11/28/85) 2. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town, Coal Miner's Glove on a Poll, Tuxedo, Cage match) (3/22/85) 3. tie- War Games (7/4/87) War Games (7/31/87) War Games (2/24/91) War Games (5/17/92) 7. ROH vs. CZW (Cage of Death) 8. Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (Cage Match) (3/14/87) 9. Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine (Cage Match) (Baltimore, MD) (7/6/85) 10. The Final Conflict (3/12/83) 11. Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol (Hair vs. Hair, Steel Cage Match) (4/27/87) 12. Hell in a Cell (10/5/97) 13. Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes (Loser Leaves Town Cage Match) (11/24/83) 14. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (12/25/86) 15. King Tonga, Masked Superstar, & Sheik Adnan Kaissey vs. Crusher Blackwell & Sgt. Slaughter (Cage Match)(4/21/85) 16. War Games (10/23/94) 17. Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) (10/20/2002) 18. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (Cage Match) (1/17/87) 19. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (Cage Match) (12/25/82) 20. Bruno Sammartino vs. Stan Hansen (Cage Match) (8/7/76)

Right, I almost wish I hadn't posted that quote now. The article goes into great detail and is very well thought-out. I certainly think it's worth reading and discussing.

from the New York Times. I hadn't seen this posted anywhere on the board and found it an interesting read.

Another great episode was 7/14/79, with the debut of the Fabulous Freebirds and The Hulk. 7/14/79 - 1 hr Lance & Dave open the show (joined in progress) Wayne Ferris & Larry Latham v Rick Morton & Dallas Montgomery VTR: Wayne Ferris, Larry Latham & Pete Austin v Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee & Jackie Fargo - manager Danny Davis pours a liquid into Jackie Fargo's eyes binding him. VTR: Jackie Fargo hospital interview - Fargo's eyes are bandaged The Fabulous Freebirds interview - Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes give their debut interview in Memphis. Gordy has a towel over Hayes head and he'll show his face later in the show. Pat Hutchenson & Koko Ware v Pete Austin & Ron Bass Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee interview - Jerry has a perm. That is all. Ron Bass & Pete Austin v Eddie Boulder & Dallas Montgomery - Ron Bass takes liberties with rookie Eddie Boulder VTR: Terry the Hulk Boulder video Eddie Boulder interview - Eddie introduces the video of his "brother" and says brother Terry is coming. Lance runs down Monday's card. The Fabulous Freebirds interview - Terry Gordy takes the towel off Michael Hayes head. Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes v Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee

I'm going through the 1979 season of Memphis TV and there have been a few gems. This one in particular just kept getting better and better until it closed with something completely out of nowhere. A few weeks after the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl, Sonny King's Army lead by Prvt. Danny David aligns with The Blonde Bombers and we basically have a New World Order on our hands. We get the first appearance of the heel cake celebration, a Memphis classic, a great beatdown of Dundee, climaxing in Dundee and Lawler going to Jackie Fargo's house to ask for help. 6/30/79 - 49 mins Jerry Bryant & Koko Ware v Larry Latham & Wayne Ferris - before the match Danny Davis brings a cake out to the desk. He's recruited the Waynes and Latham & Ferris. In appreciation, Sonny King has sent him a cake and promoted him from Pvt. to Sgt. Danny proceeds to pass out cake to all his men. With each passing moment Lance Russell becomes more and more exasperated. Finally, Lance rings the bell to break up the party and start the referee counting. Wayne Ferris, Larry Latham & Danny Davis interview - Wayne decides he's going to be the new lead commentator. He even introduces the Waynes v Gilberts from MSC. VTR: Tommy & Eddie Gilbert v Buddy & Ken Wayne - Ferris continues to talk over this footage Tommy & Eddie Gilbert interview Ken Wayne v Johnny Star - Wayne Ferris continues on commentary. Star ends up fighting off both Waynes. Bill Dundee interview - Bill chases Wayne Ferris off with a bar stool. Wayne Ferris comes back and challenges Dundee to face him in the ring. Bill Dundee v Wayne Ferris - Immediately turns into three on one with Larry Latham & Danny Davis. Ferris hammers Dundee repeatedly with Davis' army helmet. Meanwhile, the Waynes and Pete Austin hold the studio door closed so nobody can rescue the Superstar. Lance runs down Monday's card VTR: Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee interview Jackie Fargo. They then put still photos of Jackie Fargo to disco music.

Another great thing about the 6/12/97 episode of ECW Hardcore TV is how the matches flow right into each other like songs on a Grateful Dead set. ECW did that a lot but this episode is probably the best example. The whole episode is one big run-on sentence that somehow culminates in Taz winning the TV Title.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and can't recommend it enough. With the history and the music I definitely got the Ken Burns vibe. Good stuff.

Bruno Sammartino vs. Stan Hansen WWWF Championship - Madison Square Garden Steel Cage Match August 7, 1976 A young Stan Hansen is working an earlier variation of his Lariat gimmick here, with bright green trunks and bleached blonde hair, sans cattle rancher gear and a loaded elbow pad for added effect. Chris Hero's gimmick in 2009 was very reminiscent of this look and honestly its a good one to recycle. I couldn't find the matches leading up to this one, and essentially the story boils down to the fact that Stan Hansen broke Bruno Sammartino's neck with the loaded Lariat. Now Bruno gets his chance for vengeance in a Steel Cage Match at MSG. Bruno is hesitant to step in the cage as Hansen is already waiting inside, but Sammartino cannot ignore the cheers of the crowd as they urge him to get in. So of course Hansen does jump Bruno with a knee as he crawls inside the cage, but Bruno moves and Hansen misses an elbow drop. Crowd goes nuts as Bruno gets his shine on with big punches and smashes Hansen into the cage. He chokes Hansen on the ropes but Hansen fights back to get the upper hand. Back-and-forth gritty brawling ensues with Bruno raking the eyes sending Hansen into the cage head-first for a second time. Both guys continue to kick and punch and beat the snot out of each other. Sammartino chokes Hansen with his foot across the throat. Hansen desperately sends Bruno to the ropes to try for the Lariat but Bruno gets a huge big foot to Hansen's gut instead. Bruno chokes Hansen out with his foot again but the Bad Man from Borger comes back only to miss an elbow drop. Hansen landed on his back and Sammartino quickly goes to work and locks in a Boston crab. Bruno rakes his fingers across the eyes and then opens up with a series of right hands. Hansen kicks Sammartino in the chest and gingerly tries to escape through the door but Bruno grabs his tights and pulls him back in. Now both guys choke each other out. Hansen gets the better of the exchange and goes to climb the cage and is pulled down by Sammartino. Bruno gets tired of Hansen's running so he stomps him hard with a low blow. Bruno sends Hansen into the cage a number of times before Hansen elbows Bruno and tries to walk out of the cage again. They fight for advantage as Hansen tries to climb out from the top of the cage, but get crotched in the ropes and sent into the ring post instead. Hansen is cut open, so naturally Bruno rakes the cut and follows up with a series of right hands. Bruno has a clear advantage. Bruno pulls the loaded elbow pad from Hansen's arm and hits him with it several times! Hansen is knocked senseless again and gets his foot tied up in the ropes. Bruno continues the onslaught even as Hansen is trapped and bleeding! Bruno actually releases Hansen from the rope, only to give him one last big right hand to Hansen's bleeding skull. Bruno stands tall and walks out of the cage as the decisive winner. Post match, Hansen swings at a ref but misses and does a face-plant into the cage. Great back-and-forth brawl here. Effective use of the cage both in terms of violence and the escape tactics. Hansen stood toe-to-toe with the Champ but Bruno came ready for the fight of his life, throwing the rule book out the window and doing whatever it takes to get his revenge. It was only when he felt defeated that Hansen tried to escape. Pure desperation. In comparison, Bruno never tried to escape and stood tall. We got the ultimate payback when Bruno beat Hansen senseless with the loaded elbow pad and turned him into a bloody mess. Really enjoying these Bruno Sammartino matches and Hansen shined even at this stage in the game. ****1/4

Bruno Sammartino vs. Superstar Billy Graham WWWF Championship - Madison Square Garden February 2, 1976 Superstar tries to jump Bruno before the bell, but the Champ blows him off and beats Graham down. Crowd is hot right out of the gate. Graham begs off and waits for his chance to turn the tables with a big boot to Bruno's face. Superstar goes to work on Sammartino's left leg and gets an inverted half crab. Bruno reaches the ropes but pays for it when Graham drags him to the corner and rams his leg into the ring post. Graham misses a big elbow drop for the top rope and then the Champ goes to work on Superstar's leg. Bruno gets revenge with his own leg post spot and continues the damage. Now both guys have a bum leg, with Graham in worse shape. Graham fights back with a bearhug but Sammartino breaks out so Superstar quickly grabs a full nelson. Eventually Sammartino breaks the hold and puts on his own full nelson. Eventually Graham reaches the ropes and complains of hair-pulling. Then we get an intense collar-and-elbow tie-up where both men try to choke the life out of each other. Graham pushes Bruno against the ropes and begins an assault. Right hands land hard. Body slam. Graham whips him into the ropes and hits a back-elbow smash. Then Superstar goes up and misses another top rope elbow drop. Sammartino punches Superstar out onto the apron and then rams his head against the ring post. Graham comes back up and Bruno posts him again for good measure. Graham is busted wide open. This leads to a really heated punch exchange with both guys beating the hell out of each other until the blood loss starts to slow Graham down to the point where it's not an even fight and the ref calls for the bell and awards the match to Bruno Sammartino. Sort of odd to watch this after their '77 series. I didn't enjoy their '77 MSG match nearly was much as the title change in Baltimore so I'll put this firmly in the middle. Both guys brought strong performances here, with Graham giving a good balance between chickenshit heel and heavyweight brawler. Bruno continues to impress me as well in terms of performance and leading the match. Nice gusher from Superstar as well and the finish brawl was extremely exciting to watch. ***3/4

I'm an album guy, too. I consider the wrestling equivalent of an LP to be complete feuds. Events are closer to "live" albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUKRhuum0ek For some reason I really hate how the Portland Wrestling YouTube channel has everything separated into segments rather than just uploading the entire shows and putting time stamps for each segment. It's a bitch to download all those clips. Thankfully, some random tuber put up a mix tape. I've only seen 80's Buddy so this seems like a good place for me to start with the 70's stuff: Playboy Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski 3/31/79 Playboy Buddy Rose, Ed Wiskowski, Rowdy Roddy Piper & Killer Tim Brooks (2 interviews) 3/31/79 & 4/7/79 Buddy Rose, Ed Wiskowski, Roddy Piper & Tim Brooks vs. Adrian Adonis, Ron Starr, George Wells & Hector Guererro 4/7/79 Buddy Rose vs. Hector Guerrero 4/14/79 Roddy Piper 4/14/79 Adrian Adonis & Ron Starr 4/14/79 Buddy Rose & Iceman King Parsons Roddy Piper & Vickie Williams as Piper ends up slapping Williams around 4/21/79 Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski 4/21/79 Ron Starr, Vickie Williams & Roddy Piper as Williams slaps Roddy 4/21/79 Buck Zumhoffe 4/21/79 Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskowski vs. Stan Stasiak & George Wells (end of third fall not shown) 4/21/79

Superstar Billy Graham vs Bruno Sammartino WWWF Championship - MSG June 27, 1977 Graham now comes out looking like an overconfident champion with the Grand Wizard now along for the joyride. He cuts a great promo before the match and the crowd is amped to see Graham lose the title. This match is less interesting than the title change for the simple reason that Graham is in full chickenshit heel mode here and looks way less like Bruno's equal. It's a smart match to work for this hot MSG crowd since Bruno isn't going over and winning the belt back. This time around, they struggle over the same power moves with a full nelson in the mix. Graham begs off at every turn. Bruno looks sure to win before the ref gets a little too involved and eventually throws the match out. **3/4

Bruno Sammartino vs. Superstar Billy Graham WWWF Championship - Baltimore, Maryland April 30, 1977 Graham's look really must have been a revelation. Perfect foil for the North East crowds. Vince Jr. is on commentary. They circle and tie-up with Graham powering Bruno into the corner twice in a row, with the second throw having an audible impact. They tie up a third time and now Bruno gets the arm drag take down. Brunoe works over a wristlock into an armbar and then throws him down into a hammerlock but Superstar rolls outside. Graham slides back in and begs off. Test of strength is only appropriate as Graham powers Sammartino down but can't get the pin. Bruno powers himself up with the help of the crowd and Graham escapes again. Superstar now takes over with an attempt at a wristlock but is overpowered by Bruno, who gets an armbar before Graham gets a big knee to the belly. Graham then stomps Bruno's abs and chops his throat. Bruno's selling is great here and Graham works him over by choking him with the ropes. Bruno waits for his chance and makes his comeback, even posting Graham and sending him to the floor. Superstar is bleeding when he comes back in and Bruno gets the crowd going with an all out assault. Superstar gets even with a bearhug, which Bruno eventually works out of into a bearhug of his own. He lets Graham go just to beat on him some more, but the ref argues with Bruno allowing Superstar to roll him up, get extra leverage with his feet on the ropes, and win the title at about 15 minutes. Both guys looked at their best here, with Bruno in complete control of the crowd and Graham coming across as a sneaky Hollywood prick. Sammartino won most of the exchanges and even had Superstar bleeding and begging but somehow Graham was able to cheat his way to the championship. Good stuff. ***1/2

Terry Funk vs. Harley Race NWA World Heavyweight Championship - Toronto, ON February 6, 1977 Cut to a snapmare takedown by Race, who follows up with a knee drop. Race goes up top and Funk slams him down and then works the leg. Race escapes the spinning toe hold twice by raking the eyes. Race hits a huge suplex for a 2 count. Funk is up first and grabs a side headlock but works into a hammerlock and grabs the leg again. Harley again escapes the toehold and hits the kneebreaker followed by an Indian Deathlock. Funk is struggling but can't get out. Race clinches harder every time Funk tries to twist out. Eventually, Funk relents and submits the NWA World Championship to Harley Race. 4 minutes shown. Hard to say how good this whole match really is but these final few minutes are fantastic and the crowd is excited for a title change. I really like the idea that Funk going to for the toehold inspires Race to hit a kneebreaker and win with a leg lock of his own. ***